Arrogant Ice
by PhoenixxKnight221
Summary: After the meeting on Melody, it is decided that Riven goes to Arendelle to sort out some trading issues. When he doesn't return after his scheduled visit, Musa begins to worry. But what really happened to the King of Melody?
1. Storm

**A/N: Hello, people! Here I am again with another crossover! A pointer: I'm using the 4Kids dub of Winx Club, where Musa is the Princess of Melody. Hope you enjoy it. Oh, and reviews **_**are **_**welcome, you know. Feel free to leave them. **

**This is just a temporary cover image. I'm going to change it soon. **

The sun rises high over the Castle of Melody, its golden rays causing the glass windows to sparkle and shine as if they are diamonds. Music is heard everywhere; rock, pop, jazz, you name it. The people are going about their everyday business: work, school, the usual things that they would do. No one suspects a thing, everything seems as it should be and nothing seems out of place out on the streets. But in the castle itself…

"No!" Cadence, the four year old princess of Melody yells, struggling out of the exasperated maid's grasp. A formal meeting is to take place in the very halls of the castle; and it is Cadence's first meeting. She claims to be excited but she refuses to wear her newly bought dress. "Not gonna wear it!" She runs out of Ariadne's grasp and out of the room. The frustrated maid straightens up and runs the back of her hand across her brow. She decides to go and look for the young princess but before she can take a step, she hears footsteps coming down the hallway.

"Ariadne? What's going on?" She hears the queen ask as she enters. This causes her cheeks to turn a faint rose colour.

"Cadence is still refusing to wear her dress, Your Highness," she says as she bows. She hears a chuckle come from the navy haired beauty of a queen.

"Ah. Well, I'm sure her father can get her to put it on," Musa smiles as she gently plucks the dress from the maid's arms.

"Thank you, Your Highness," Ariadne smiles back, "is there anything else you'd like me to do?" Musa thinks for a second, putting her index finger to her chin. After a while she shakes her head.

"No, thank you, Ariadne. You are free to take your leave now," Musa replies with a nod. Ariadne smiles fondly, bows and walks out of the room.

Musa sits on the edge of her daughter's bed and closes her eyes. _Cadence, please, do as we say and wear the dress. Please. _She wills inside her head. With a nervous and shaky sigh, she opens her eyes again and stands up. Her first job is to find Riven and then she plans to sit in her study and read for a couple of hours before she, Riven and Cadence head to the meeting.

She walks out of the room, trying to appear calm and collected when she feels as if there is a swirling storm inside. She walks the hallways of her palace, peering into every room in a hope to find her husband or even her daughter. She opens the door to her room to find both of the people she is looking for. She pokes her head into the door, watching and trying to stifle her own giggles.

Cadence is squirming around on her parents' bed as Riven tickles her crazy. "Stop, stop! Please!" Cadence pleads as her tiny fingers wrap around Riven's hands in an effort to make him stop. Riven, being the man that he is, fails to oblige, instead grinning.

"Hey, guys!" Musa laughs as she enters the room and closes the door softly behind her. Riven looks up and his face breaks out in an even bigger grin. Musa sits on the bed next to the squirming Cadence.

"Mummy, make him stop!" Cadence giggles. Musa sees the perfect opportunity to get her to wear the dress. She smirks.

"Sweetie, I'll only make Daddy stop if you promise to wear your lovely new dress." Musa holds the blue dress up.

"OK, OK, I'll wear the dress, just make him stop!" Cadence gives in to her parents. Riven stops tickling his daughter with a fake huff.

"Alright, Cadence, now wear the dress, sweetie," Musa holds up the dress before Cadence snatches it from her arms. "Cadence?"

"Daddy do it," The princess declares, handing the dress to her father, who looks at it and pulls a face. Musa sighs again, rolling her eyes.

"OK, sweetie," She stands up and leans closer to Riven, "Just get her to wear the damn dress, alright? She's been doing my head in," she whispers. As she leans away again, Riven catches her wrist.

"Hey, are you alright, Musa?" He whispers back gently.

"I'm fine, Riven. Just get on with it!" She scolds. Riven jumps, he's not used to his wife being this sharp with him. Before he can say anything else, Musa is already walking out of the room. He shrugs, making a mental note to go and find her after he is done with Cadence.

Meanwhile, Musa tries to calmly walk down to her study but she has already established that she is walking too fast to appear composed. Sure enough, "Oh! Good morning, Your Majesty," she hears. It is Trevor, her steward and he is carrying a wad of papers, "Are you feeling alright?" Musa sucks in a breath.

"Yes, I'm fine, thank you, Trevor," she replies, proceeding to walk past him, but he stops her.

"Uh, Your Majesty, may I remind you that I have left a few letters of trade in your study," Trevor says with a voice of concern. Musa sighs again and runs a hand through her midnight blue hair.

"Alright," She says sharply, "I'll go take a look at them!" She replies irritably. Without waiting for a reply, she storms past him.

Opening the door to her study, she walks in and closes the door behind her with a slam. Taking deep breaths, she tries to calm herself down as she sits in her chair. As Trevor has told her, there are a huge pile of letters, waiting for her to sign them. She growls and picks up her pen.

As she signs the letters, her mind starts to drift off towards the meeting. She doesn't know why but whenever she thinks about it, she feels anger and hatred bubble up inside her. She thinks about what the meeting will enquire. She knows that the kingdom of Arendelle will be attending. Well, Queen Elsa will, anyway.

The foreign queen's name leads her onto a new thought. Queen Elsa is an extraordinary queen. She has a special gift; she is able to control and manipulate ice and snow. She has had a difficult past; what with the untimely demise of her parents, and being isolated from her sister for ten years because of her powers.

She shakes her head to get herself out of any train of thought and focus on the job at hand. She finishes signing the letters and smiles. "There!" She breathes, "done at last!" She sits back in her chair. Just as she closes her eyes, she hears the door open. She turns her head towards the door. Riven enters with a neutral expression on his face, though from his eyes, you can see a whole different story.

"Riven? Are you OK?" She asks him, turning in her seat to face him.

"I could ask you the same thing," he retaliates with a smirk, "you're seeming a bit out of it, if you ask me," Musa sighs as Riven reaches the chair.

"I don't know. It's just… this meeting. For some reason, I feel… weird about it," she says quietly. Riven walks round to face his wife.

"Can you try telling me how? Or why?" He asks, again walking round and running his fingers through her hair.

"I don't know. I'm just nervous, I guess," she looks down and tucks her hands under her thighs as she hunches up small.

"Oh, Musa," Riven sighs, "you're a queen now, but a strong queen nonetheless. It's alright to feel nervous though, everyone can feel nervous at one point in their life," Musa looks up to face him.

"But… we've been to hundreds of meetings. I've never felt anything of the sort," she says.

"How 'bout this," Riven thinks aloud, "if Melody need to do anything, or go anywhere, I'll do it. How's that sound?" Musa smirks as she stands up in front of him. She winds her arms around his neck.

"Then we have a deal," she says, "but just remember you said that," she whispers with a mischievous glint in her eye. As the words leave her mouth, Riven's hands move to hold her waist.

"Oh, I will," he whispers. They lean in and their lips meet halfway along in a soft but fervent kiss.


	2. Leave

**A/N: I noticed a couple of minor typos and tense errors in the previous chapter so I went back and corrected them.**

Riven sighs. His daughter won't stop squirming on his lap. They are in the meeting with all the other kingdoms: Sparx, Eraklyon, Solaria, Linphea, Zenith, Tides, The Southern Isles and Arendelle. They have been in there for a half hour now and Cadence will either squirm around or make a fuss if she is told off. She even refuses to go and sit with her mother.

Speaking of Musa, he glances at her through the corner of his eye and sees that she is physically in pain and panicking. She has gone a pale white colour, sweat is dripping from her forehead and he can hear her breathing which is sharp and jagged. He sighs again; though this time it is out of concern and worry, rather than irritation. _Oh, Musa, _he thinks in his head, _I wish I could help you through this. _

He shifts Cadence onto his other knee and reaches for her hand under the table. Musa glances at him and manages a weak smile. 'I'm right here for you if you need me, Musa,' Riven mouths to her. Her smile grows a little but she still stays as pale as before. They turn their attention back to the discussion, Musa gripping Riven's hand all the way through it.

"If I may speak," Queen Elsa of Arendelle stands up and everyone's attention switches to her, "I believe that Arendelle and Melody have a few trading issues and-" Riven hears Musa give a low groan and close her eyes, "-I would like to ask either King Riven or Queen Musa to stay in Arendelle for a couple of months to sort this out," she looks expectantly at Riven and Musa.

Sucking in a breath, he lowers Cadence to the floor, ignoring her moans and protests, "I will go," he declares, "I've been wanting to see the kingdom of Arendelle for quite a long time now," he says looking Elsa in the eye. Elsa nods and her face breaks out into a smile of relief.

"Thank you, King Riven," Elsa says to him. Riven and Elsa both sit back down and Riven lifts Cadence back onto his knee.

"Daddy, Daddy," Cadence whispers, waving her hand in front of his face. Riven huffs and swats her hand away.

"What is it, Cadence?" He asks a bit more harshly than he actually intends to.

"Can we go now?" She asks. Riven groans in his head. She is starting to annoy him and he will have given her to Musa if she was able to. For Cadence's sake, he forces himself to calm down, counting to ten in his head.

"No, not yet, sweetie. Just stay still for me for a teeny, _tiny _bit longer, OK?" He whispers as he holds the thumb and index finger of his other hand an inch apart. It's the princess's turn to huff.

"OK, Daddy," she sighs, while swinging her legs to and fro, occasionally hitting Riven's shin with her heel. He tries not to wince.

But then he realizes it is not Cadence that is hurting him; Musa is squeezing his hand a bit too tightly. He looks at her and sees she is not pale anymore, but a bright red. "Musa," he hisses, leaning closer to her, "count to ten. You'll calm down,"

Then he becomes conscious to the fact that the room is silent. Not a thing can be heard, except for the ticking of the clock and eventually Cadence's struggles subside as she too realizes the situation. He knows he has to take action.

Again, he lowers Cadence to the floor and stands up, smoothing out his 'kingly' outfit, "is there anything else that needs to be discussed?" He asks, resting his hands on the table and looking at each of his and Musa's childhood friends: Bloom, Sky, Layla and Stella. He stops when he gets to the King of the Southern Isles (of whom he has yet to learn the name) and Queen Elsa, who are sitting adjacent to each other. _God, that queen's blonde hair is as white as ice. It makes her cheeks look so… so… radiant… _wait, what? Where in the oceans of Melody did _that_ thought come from? He pushes any other thoughts that are along the same lines to the back of his mind and returns his focus to the question he asked.

Mumbles and declines are heard all around the table. Bloom and Stella shake their heads, Sky mumbles a 'no, I don't think so,' and Layla nods along with Sky. Queen Elsa and the un-named king also shake their heads, "well then, I think it is safe to say that this meeting can be adjourned," he says. Mutters of agreement are heard from the royals. He glances at Musa who breathes out and gives him a thumbs up.

One by one, they stand up and file out. All of them but Queen Elsa, who stops at the door and then turns to Riven. It is just Musa, Riven, Cadence and Elsa in the room now, "is there anything else you require, Queen Elsa?" He asks as he steps back. She is getting a bit _too _close for his liking.

"I'd like to settle on a visit schedule for when you come to Arendelle, please," she says, as she swipes her bangs out of her face, "if you don't mind, that is,"

"Uh, well," Riven stutters. He catches Musa looking from him to the foreign queen, and a frown edges its way onto her face. She has somewhat calmed down now, her cheeks are no longer red and her breathing has returned to normal. Cadence lets go of Riven's hand and runs over to Musa, "how about if I… leave for Arendelle tomorrow morning? And stay for however long it takes to sort out these issues?" He asks her with a hint of uncertainty in his voice. Elsa nods, and there is a glint of passion in her eyes.

"That will do the kingdom of Arendelle just fine, King Riven. Thank you for your co-operation on this matter," she replies.

Musa clears her throat, still clutching Cadence's hand. "If that is all, Your Majesty, then I suggest you take your leave," she says. While she does not say it harshly, there is a strong sense of firmness in her voice. Elsa is taken aback by Musa's sudden change in demeanour. Wasn't she panicking just ten minutes ago?

"Yes. Yes, of course, Queen Musa. I apologize for wasting your time. I'll be on my way now," Elsa says, and without another word, she opens the door of the council room and walks out.

"Mummy, Daddy, what's gonna happen now?" Cadence asks, pulling on the bottom of Musa's dress. Riven walks over to the rest of his family and kneels down to get to eye level with Cadence.

"Daddy's going to go on a trip tomorrow, OK?" He says, watching as her face changes from confusion to wonder.

"Ooh!" She squeals, fisting her hands and holding them up to her chest, "can I go with you?" she asks. Riven sighs, shaking his head fondly.

"Sorry, Princess, this is a job for Daddy," he says, while straightening up, "Musa, can I go and ask Ariadne to pack me a bag?" Musa nods, bending down and picking up Cadence.

"Alright," she agrees, "and you can get Helena to pack you some food too,"

"OK," he replies absentmindedly, and then he turns to Musa completely and mouths, 'are you OK, now?' Musa gives a small, almost undetectable nod and eyes Cadence.

"Uh, Cadence, honey, why don't you see if you can find Gregor?" Musa says, twisting Cadence round in her arms to face her, "he might be able to let you help with the shoe making," Cadence's face lights up at the mention of her favourite blacksmith.

"OK!" She squeals, struggling to be put down. Musa chuckles and lowers her down to the floor. Instantly, Cadence runs out of the door, unintentionally slamming it shut behind her.

"So, seriously Musa, are you OK now?" Riven asks as he wraps his arms around her waist.

"I'm fine, Riven," She starts off by saying, moving her hands to hold his shoulders, "but I don't trust that Queen Elsa girl," she says with a frown. Riven smirks,

"No, neither do I, Musa," he says, "but this has to be done for the good of the kingdom of Melody,"

"I guess," Musa says reluctantly, "alright, you go find Ariadne and Helena and I'll go see if Cadence has found Gregor," Riven nods and after a brief and chaste kiss, they part ways.

As Riven walks off in the direction of his room, his mind fills with thoughts of the Arendelle queen. Platinum blonde hair, eyes as blue as ice, soft but sassy signature smirk and an all-round cold and icy demeanor. Just perfect for a guy as cocky as him.

But then he scolds himself mentally for thinking such thoughts. He is a king, with a family and he is _content_. _Yes_, he reminds himself, _I am Musa's and Musa is mine_. With that final thought, he thinks nothing more on the matter and goes about the job at hand.


	3. Feelings

**A/N: Again, I went and checked the spelling and tense in chapter two just to make sure they were correct.**

As Musa walks out of the room and towards the back yard, she can't help but wonder about that queen. The queen that people refer to as The Ice Queen. Does she have a thing for Riven? Musa scoffs; she hopes not or the Ice Queen will be no more in two seconds flat. She is an Enchantix fairy. That plus her music powers can beat ice any day. What? She has beaten Icy, hasn't she?

But she has to have faith in her Riven. Because that's what he is: _her _Riven. No-one else's; just hers.

With that thought and a satisfied smirk, she walks out into the garden. She breathes in the fresh air. While their kingdom is nowhere near as pretty and as breathtakingly beautiful nature wise as Linphea, the garden is not all that bad, with a decent amount of plants and flowers to capture someone's attention.

"Mummy, Mummy!" Musa hears. She shakes her head to bring herself out of her thoughts. Cadence is running towards her from Gregor and in her hands is something that looks like a scrap of metal. As she runs closer to her, Musa sees that is in fact a horse shoe. With a huge smile on her face, she kneels down and holds out her arms for Cadence to run into them. "Look what I have!" The young girl cries as she falls into her mother's embrace.

"What's that, sweetheart?" Musa asks.

"Gregor gave me Flyer's old horse shoe!" Cadence squeals excitedly, jumping up and down, nearly knocking her mother over. Musa laughs along with her, resting a hand on the hard tarmac ground to steady herself.

"Wow," she praises. She pauses, listening, and then, "are you hungry, honey?" She asks her daughter after she hears a rumble come from the princess's stomach.

"_Very_ hungry, Mummy," Cadence says, rubbing her stomach for extra dramatic effect. Musa chuckles.

"Well then," she declares, straightening up and brushing her hands off on the handkerchief in her dress pocket "we'd better go and find Helena so she can make you a snack, then, hadn't we?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Comes her daughter's reply. Musa reaches for Cadence's other hand and manoeuvres her so that they are both walking comfortably.

"But first, we'll get Ariadne to change your dress to something less scratchy and rough, yes?" Musa looks down at Cadence. Even though she is skipping along by her side, Musa can see that she is finding the dress uncomfortable.

If she were Stella, she would have been able to change the dress with her magic. But she is the Fairy of Music and that is good enough for her.

_But the Ice Queen changed her dress. With _ice_. If ice can do that, music can do it too. No need for a fashion expert or maids or whatever. I'm going to show that girl who's best for Riven._

Jealousy and hatred take over the Queen of Melody and for a split second, she is determined to show Queen Elsa what she can do. She will show the Queen of Ice what she's made of- "Mummy?"

"Huh?" Musa shakes her head to her daughter's words and the tugging on her dress. "Sorry, what were you saying, honey?" She tunes in to what Cadence is telling her.

"I want to eat first, Mummy, _please_?" Cadence pleads, cocking her head to one side and putting on an adorable pout. Musa chuckles, but there is still a part of her who wants to get at the Queen of Arendelle.

"Alright, honey. Let's go," They walk back inside in silence, each of their minds filled with thought and wonder.

As they walk back into the castle, Trevor stops them. "Good afternoon, Your Majesties," he says with a bow in Musa's direction and a smile at Cadence.

"Good afternoon, Trevor," Musa nods in her steward's direction.

"Excuse me, Queen Musa, but have you seen King Riven?" Trevor asks her.

"He should be with either Ariadne or Helena," Musa explains, "he's going to Arendelle tomorrow morning and he said he was going to ask them to pack him some food and clothes,"

Trevor shakes his head with a sigh, "no, I checked with those two. They said he left from there,"

"Oh," Musa says, confused, "well, if you like, I can pass on a message when I see him?"

"Alright," Trevor smiles, "Can you please tell the king there is a personal letter, from Arendelle, for him waiting in his study?"

Musa sucks in a breath. What could the Ice Queen possibly want with Riven? "Alright," she says after a slight hesitation, "I will tell him. Is that all?"

"Yes, My Queen, that is all," Trevor replies, and with a quick bow and a smile, he is on his way.

Musa lets out a heavy sigh; she can't help but think that the Ice Queen has feelings for Riven. Why else would she send him a 'personal' letter? Running a hand through her long hair, she tries to even out her steps but she knows that she is too worked up and worried to do so. Even Cadence can see it.

"Mummy? What's wrong, Mummy?" The princess asks, tugging on the Queen's dress.

"Nothing, sweetheart. I'm fine," Musa replies with a small but fake smile – but a smile nonetheless. Cadence holds her index finger to her chin.

"Are you sure?" She asks, "because you don't look like you are. You look all sad and upset," she reasons. Musa chuckles.

"I'm sure, honey. Now, let's go and get you some food," She says, gently pulling Cadence along. She doesn't want to tell Cadence that she's worried someone will take her father away.

They walk in silence to the kitchen, where Helena, the head cook, is preparing some sort of pudding. "Helena, Helena, can you make me a snack?" Cadence asks as she lets go of her mother's hand and goes to wrap her arms round the cook's legs. Helena smiles.

"Of course, honey," she says as she reaches for the mixing bowl. Cadence hasn't let go of her legs so she can't reach. Musa hands the bowl over to her with a smile, "but why don't you go and take this lovely dress of yours off and put on something more comfortable first?"

"Aww," Cadence complains, "but I'm really, really, _really_ hungry!" Again, the princess rubs her stomach (while still clutching Helena's legs), causing the cook and the queen to chuckle at her drama.

"Alright," Helena says, "but let go of me so I can get the ingredients from the fridge, OK?" When the princess doesn't obey, Musa jumps in.

"Come on, sweetie. Let Helena go," The queen pries her daughter away from the struggling cook. Helena gives a grateful smile in Musa's direction.

"If you leave her with me, Your Majesty, I'll fix her up with something to eat," Helena says. Musa nods, and walks out of the kitchen in search of Riven. She really isn't looking forward to telling Riven about that letter.

But what she can't seem to figure out, is that Queen Elsa left literally a couple of hours ago. Either she's a very forgetful person or she just wants to get under Musa's skin. She very much hopes it's the first option, for both her's and the Ice Queen's sake.

Opening the door to her and Riven's room, she peers her head in to see Riven lying on his back with his hands behind his head. His eyes are closed but Musa can't tell if he's asleep or just resting his eyes.

"Riven?" She whispers, "Riven, are you awake?" Riven sighs and opens his eyes.

"Now I am," he says with a yawn.

"I didn't wake you up, did I?" She asks in a concerned tone.

"I was just thinking, Musa," he says as he sits up, "are you OK?"

"I'm fine, Riven," she says while walking towards him after closing the door, "but the Ice Queen left a 'personal' letter for you," she holds up her fingers to show the inverted commas.

"Personal?" Riven asks. Musa doesn't know for sure but when she told him that the letter is personal, she thinks she saw Riven's eyes light up. She shrugs, brushing it off.

"That's what Trevor said anyway,"

"Alright," he says as he takes Musa into his arms, "I'll take a look at it later. Right now, its just you and me,"

Musa smiles, fairly certain that Riven will not go and betray her. He kisses her forehead, whispering sweet nothings into her ear and running his fingers through her hair.


	4. Goodbye

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in, like, _forever. _I just had a lot on my mind and stuff was going on. But I promise I will update sooner. Well, I'll _try _to, at least. Again, please do leave a review to tell me how I'm doing. :)**

With shaky hands, Riven breaks the seal of his letter. What could the Ice Queen want to tell him this soon after she left? The snowflake insignia of Arendelle is stamped over it, and it peels away as the wax seal is broken. Holding in a breath, he unfolds the letter. His hands are still shaking and he can barely hold the letter still.

He changes his plan and puts the letter flat on his desk, holding it down with a couple of paperweights. He sits in his chair and leans his hands on the table.

_Dear King Riven, _

_I apologize for sending this letter so soon after my sister Queen Elsa's departure. _

_I'm writing to inform you of the Queen's past and her state of mind. _

_We have both been traumatized after the death of our parents. While this was a couple of years ago, she still seems withdrawn when I or anyone around the castle bring it up. She claims to have gotten over their demise, however. I would kindly ask you to not mention anything about them in front of her on your stay. If you have any questions, I will be fine to answer them. Please do not hesitate to come and speak to me. _

_If she _does _seem a little... introverted, for lack of a better word, it is just because she is under a lot of mental stress. Please do not think it is because of you. While she has a cold demeanor, she really tries not to take it out on her people._

_The purpose of this is to avoid any confusion and embarrassment on both your and the Queen's parts, respectively. She does not know I have sent you this letter._

_Thank you for taking the time to read this._

_Your's sincerely, _

_Princess Anna of Arendelle_

As he finishes reading the letter, Riven raises an eyebrow. So it wasn't the Queen sending this letter to him. It was the Princess of Arendelle.

Does he really need to know this? _Yes_, his mind decides, _I do not need to embarrass anyone. _With a small smile, but a somewhat hammering heart, he rolls the letter back up and puts it in his drawer.

Someone knocks on the door. "Come in!" He calls. The door creaks open.

"Riven?" Musa asks as she enters the room and closes the door, "did you read the letter?" She walks over and stands next to him and puts her hand on his shoulder. He smirks, knowing why she is so persistent in asking.

"I might have done," he says slowly. He stands up and gently brushes her hand off his shoulder. She frowns and looks down at her hand. Riven smirks.

"What did it say? What did _she _say?" Musa asks him hurriedly, her voice getting rougher with every word. This causes Riven to smirk again.

"I don't think the _she _we're both referring to is the same she," Riven says. This time, Musa raises an eyebrow.

"Wait, what?" She says in disbelief, "Riven, what are you talking about?" With another smirk, Riven takes her left hand in his right and reaches for his drawer. Opening it, he pulls out the letter. He extracts his hand from hers from a second, just to open up the parchment.

He points to the bottom, where the princess's name is clearly written in black ink. He hands it to her and she reads with growing confusion. He watches as her eyes move from side to side as she reads the words on the page.

"Huh?" She says as she rolls it back up, "and why do you need to know this?" She puts it back in his drawer.

Riven shrugs, "to do what it says. Avoid embarrassment," he says as he holds her waist and pulls her closer.

With a smile, she leans in close to his ear and whispers, "I'm going to miss you, Riven," as she pulls herself away, he lifts her chin up with with his index finger.

"I'm going to miss you, too, sweetheart. It won't be the same without you," he replies.

They lean in, readying themselves for a kiss, when, _knock, knock, knock. _They spring apart, Riven letting out a low growl. Musa gives him a warning glare.

"Come in!" Riven calls. The door opens and in walks Ariadne, "what is it, Ariadne?" He asks harshly. Musa frowns and hits him on the arm.

"Riven!" She hisses. Ariadne smiles fondly at them and bows.

"My King," she says as she straightens, "you have a busy day tomorrow. Don't you think it would be best if you were to retire for the evening?" She asks.

Riven looks out of the window. The sky is purple, turning a deep midnight blue. Some stars are poking through, shining a sparkling silver. The full moon is out, enlightening the pathway for the passers by of Melody.

The beautiful sight makes the king turn his gaze to the clock ticking on the wall. Ten to eleven, the hands of the clock show. He must have spent at least a few hours with his queen. This fact makes Riven smile and he grips Musa's hand tighter.

"Yes, I think you are right, Ariadne," he says, nodding in the maid's direction, "is that all?" His voice is now softer as he thinks about all the time he has been spending with Musa.

"Yes, Your Highness. That is everything," Ariadne says with a bow, "My Queen," she turns to Musa, "is there anything _you _require?"

Musa thinks for a second, and nothing comes to mind. But then she remembers Cadence, who she had last seen with Helena, "Where is my Cadence?" She asks.

"I have put her to bed, Your Majesties," Ariadne addresses both Musa and Riven, "at eight o'clock,"

"Did she eat anything?" Musa asks.

"Yes, Helena made her a chicken salad,"

Musa smiles, "thank you, Ariadne," she says, "I think you are free to take your leave," Ariadne smiles, bows and leaves the room.

Musa turns back to Riven, "I guess you'll be going to bed, then," she asks him.

"I guess I'd better," he shrugs. Then, with a soft smile, he holds her waist, pressing her against his body, "but not before this," he says in a seductive tone. With that, he covers her mouth with his. Musa smiles against her king's lips and wraps her arms round his neck.

After breaking apart, he leans his forehead against hers. "I'm going to miss you like hell, Musa," he whispers.

"Me too, Riven," Musa replies. She moves her hands to rest on his chest, "I love you," Riven smiles and caresses her cheek with his hand.

"I love you, too, Musa," he whispers back. They go in for another kiss.

Everything disappears from both their worlds, apart from the other and the love they share. As they break apart, Riven moves his hands on top of Musa's.

"Goodnight, love," Riven smiles as he breaks the contact between them. He was sure he heard her whine at his actions, making him smirk in his head.

"Goodnight, Riven," she nods.

Riven walks back to their room and after readying himself, he slips into bed. His last thought for the night is, _my queen is the best_.

After thinking about his love, Riven is taken into a deep slumber.

* * *

As the king changes into his outfit for his trip, he has a lot on his mind. One of his thoughts is the Ice Queen.

Will she welcome him? Is she really as socially insecure as Princess Anna says she is? Will she take out her insecurity on him? How long will it be before he can return to his family?

The word 'family' moves his mind to Cadence and Musa. Will Cadence understand? Will she want to tag along? Will Musa miss him as much as he will miss her? _No, _he thinks with a smile, _she will _never _miss me as much as I will miss her. She will be on my mind twenty four seven._

He fastens the cufflinks onto his shirt and straightens his collar. He reaches for his velvet robe. As he fastens it over his shoulders, he notices that it trails at least a metre on the floor behind him. He groans; sometimes marrying a princess has its downsides.

But he doesn't regret it one little bit. Musa is his life. He is incredibly grateful that the Specialists pushed him to ask her out on a date. He will give his life to save her - and Cadence, for that matter.

He sighs as he rests his crown atop his head. He misses his high school signature gelled up hair. It made him look tough. With his hair flat against his head, he comes across as soft and nurturing. Which he _is_. Only to the ones he holds dear to him, that is.

He holds his hand on top of the treble clef insignia of Melody which is embroidered into his robe. With a smile, he walks out of his room and outside to the harbour.

Musa is waiting for him with Cadence at the steps. "Daddy!" The princess calls as she leaves her mother and comes running up to him. As she runs closer to him, he scoops her up into his arms, earning him a squeal, "bye, Daddy," she says as he straightens up.

"Bye, Princess," he smiles.

Musa walks up to them. "Goodbye, Riven," she says softly. Her eyes are filled with love and a sense of longing.

He wants to show his love and take her into his arms and kiss her crazy. But with Cadence right in front of them, that isn't an option. So he waits until Gregor takes her to see Flyer.

"Princess Cadence," the blacksmith says, "come with me and feed Flyer, alright?" He asks. Cadence looks at Riven who ushers her on.

"OK!" She squeals, running up to Gregor. Riven smiles at him gratefully and Gregor bows with a smile as he leads Cadence away. Riven turns to Musa.

"Goodbye, my love," he whispers as he wraps her into his embrace,

"Goodbye, Riven," she says as she rests her head on his chest.

"I love you," he tells her. She smiles as she wraps her arms around his neck.

As she looks up at him, a tear slips down her cheek. He smiles softly and wipes it away with his thumb. "Hey. Don't cry," he whispers, "I promise I'll be back really, really soon,"

"I hope so," she says in a whisper as she wraps him in a hug.

"I know so, darling," they share one last kiss before Riven is made to board the ship.

As the shoreline reduces in size, Riven keeps his eyes on his queen. He feels terrible for leaving her. _But it has to be done for Melody_, he tells himself as she becomes nothing more than a dot.


	5. Yearning

**A/N: Gosh, it pains me when I look at the time gap between this chapter and chapter four. Sorry guys. Life, mock exams and such got in the way.**

Musa sighs. It has felt like forever since she put her arms round her king's neck, felt his lips with hers or toyed with words around him.

She sits in her room; on her bed. As she looks across it, running her newly manicured nails across the duvet cover, it suddenly looks way too large for her liking. She hates all the extra space that she has in the night. That she is not used to. It is in her nature to lie perfectly still, breathing slowly, in and out, as she does her best to give Riven the comfort he deserves.

The room is silent apart from the ticking of the – far too loud – clock. She tries her best to ignore it; to not look up and watch the seconds tick by. That means she will give in to her longing. Even though she wants to, she knows that that is not what Riven would want for her. He _knows _that she misses him and _she_ knows that he will want her to live her life as queen, aid the people of Melody and be a caring mother to Cadence.

But it is hard. Excruciatingly burdensome, in fact. There is no-one to share her strain with. Helena and Ariadne are always rushing around, cleaning or cooking, even when they are not ordered to. Trevor is her steward; she doesn't mean to sound rude but he will never understand. Gregor the 'blacksmith' is either busy with the castle's horses: Flyer, Diamond and Twilight (of all three, somehow Flyer is the princess' favourite) or – on Saturday and Sunday afternoons – out working in the market, selling his horse supplies. He never has much time. All the other maids and cooks are, again, not meaning to sound harsh, of no social importance to her. She has never seemed that close to them.

So she sits. Alone. She sits in her bedroom or her study (depending on the amount of duties for that day) and thinks about him. What he is doing, when he will return, whether he is missing her as much as she is missing him. She also thinks about what that wretched queen is saying to her king.

_Calm yourself, _a voice mutters in her head, _Riven is faithful; he is loyal and he is _yours_. Don't fret so about it. _

She smiles then, knowing she is right. With a content – for now anyways – sigh, she stands. By instinct, her right hand balls itself into a fist and lifts itself up under her eyes. She glances at her wrist, and breathes out gently when it is empty. She sits again, having realized she stood for no apparent reason.

Suddenly, the door flies open. Cadence is standing just outside the room with a beaming smile on her face. "Hi, Mummy!" she says enthusiastically. Cadence's smile is catching, and soon Musa finds that she is smiling from ear to ear.

"Hi sweetie. You OK?" She asks as Cadence runs over to her and jumps onto her lap.

The princess pauses, frowns, and then looks down at her feet and quietly whispers, "I miss Daddy." Musa's heart drops. A frown creeps over the smile as she finally realizes her daughter's pain; as she finally realizes she is not the only one suffering from the yearning. So, lowering her mouth down to Cadence's ear, she whispers,

"Daddy will be home soon, sweetheart. You'll see." She places a soft kiss to Cadence's forehead and hugs her tight.

They stay in that position for a few minutes before Cadence whispers something Musa is unable to make out. "What was that, love?" She gently pushes Cadence away from her.

"I asked if _you _missed Daddy," Cadence mutters, twiddling with her long navy hair. Musa sighs.

"Yes, Cadence. I do miss Daddy. A lot. But he'll be back really, really soon. I promise." Musa hugs Cadence again, and as she does so she notices that her words were trying to convince her more than they were trying to convince Cadence.

"Can I go find Flyer?" Cadence asks suddenly.

"Maybe you should find Gregor first and then ask if you can see Flyer? Yes?" Musa says.

"OK!" Cadence jumps down from Musa's lap and runs to the door. She opens it, makes to walk out, turns back to Musa and asks, "Are you _really_ sure Daddy will be home soon?" Musa groans inwardly. Can the girl not let a subject drop? But she curses herself for thinking such bitter thoughts. Riven is Cadence's father; as well as Musa's husband, so it is perfectly normal for her to long for him.

"Yes, I'm _really_ sure Daddy will be home soon," she smiles lightly, slightly mocking her daughter. The answer eventually seems to appease the princess as she smiles and says,

"Alright. Bye, Mummy!" She runs out and slams the door behind her.

Musa breathes out instantly, relieved. Any further conversation on the matter would have caused her to shed a tear or two. Or fifty. She reluctantly glances at her clock, just to see if she has time for a quick shower before going to find Helena and Ariadne. The clock points to ten to six so Musa starts to gather up her clothes.

Someone knocks on the door. Musa shoots a glance at the door. "Come in!" she calls.

The door opens slowly and Ariadne steps into the room, softly closing the door behind her. "What is it you require, Ariadne?"

"Queen Musa, I'm worried about Cadence," Ariadne says, flat out. Musa raises an eyebrow at her.

"What do you mean?" Musa gives the maid her full attention.

"She's been seeming…" Ariadne looks down at the ground as she tries to figure out how to say what she has in mind.

"Yes…?" Musa prompts.

"She seems… held back."

"Could you elaborate on that?" Musa asks her, putting her clothes down onto the bed before walking up to Ariadne.

"Like there's an invisible… something bothering her," Ariadne says, crossing her arms. "I don't know if it's because of King Riven going up to Arendelle or because of something else that she's not telling us. But for all I know, I want to see that little girl right as rain again. I miss her old self."

This brings tears up to the brim of Musa's eyes, "I… I didn't know you… cared so much," she whispers, using the handkerchief in her pocket to wipe away the stray but joyful tears.

Ariadne smiles, "Of course I care, Queen Musa. I always have."

Musa suddenly walks forward and wraps her arms around Ariadne. Ariadne is taken aback but after a few seconds or so, she smiles and returns the gesture.

When Ariadne leaves, Musa thinks about their conversation. She thinks that she was so taken aback by the fact that Ariadne seemed to care because of the stress she is going through lately. She reminds herself that whenever she needs a helping hand, she can always go to Ariadne.

With that thought in mind, she picks up her clothes again and heads for the bathroom.


	6. Confusion

**A/N: Now I'm beginning to wish I'd started this in the past tense. But, oh well. Only another six/seven chapters before I can work on something else. Yay!**

Everything in Arendelle is running smoothly: outside the castle there is a crowd of people bustling about with their daily jobs and necessities and everyone in the castle was just having a relaxing, happy morning, spending time with the one's that they loved. Well, everyone except Riven, of course.

The King of Melody sighs as he walks around the castle. He's been in Arendelle for, what, nearly a month now, and Queen Elsa's given him no information on these trading issues that need his specific attention.

He takes his gaze around the hallway that he is walking down. There is a vast chandelier hanging above him. Glittering, ice blue crystalline teardrop shaped jewels hang down from the frame. The gentle breeze through the window makes it turn slowly, and every time one of the sun's rays catch on a jewel, it glimmers and sparkles, like the water in the sea on a warm summer's afternoon. It makes intricate and delicate patterns on the walls either side of him. Leaving the icy looking light fixture behind, he goes on his way, smiling as he returns to the thoughts of his family – and the not so nice thoughts about the Queen who is making him have second thoughts about his feelings. Feelings in general, that is.

Queen Elsa hasn't taken him to her study room, sat him down and talked thoroughly about the issues that have been created between their two kingdoms. He is now very confused, and he doesn't want to bring it up for fear he'll make her release her ice. He knows that is very unlikely now but when the news went out that Arendelle had shut its gates because of Elsa's powers, it freaked him out. He knew that he didn't want Melody want to have any contact with Arendelle for the first year or so, but gradually, he felt he wanted to help them.

However, it is not like the Royals of Arendelle haven't shown him hospitality on his stay; Queen Elsa and her sister have been extremely kind to him. He'd made a few friends; for example, the chief guard Alexander Hayes (whom everyone in the castle refers to as Xander) and Princess Anna's fiancé, Kristoff.

They have all been very kind to him (as he would expect) and he sees now what Princess Anna meant when she said that the queen was insecure. She has been trying to hide the fact that she is getting just a little overwhelmed at having to see to these issues. Or maybe it is something else? Riven doesn't know.

Riven walks into his room and digs in his suitcases to find something that can take his mind off of everything for now. He goes and sits on his bed, flipping through a book that he had brought along with him. Suddenly, someone knocks on the door, startling him.

"Come in!" he calls, lying his book face down on his bedside desk and righting his slouching position.

The door opens slightly and Queen Elsa pokes her head in. "So sorry to bother you, King Riven," she says. "But can we come in, please?"

Riven shakes his head with a light chuckle. "Not bothersome at all," he smiles. "In fact, it's a privilege to be in your alluring presence, Queen Elsa."

The hostess queen smiles shyly as a faint rose seeps into her pale cheeks. Suddenly, he can hear stifled sniggering coming from behind the queen. Was calling her 'alluring' the wrong thing to say?

_No_, his mind says to him. The queen _is _alluring and she should be told that she is. Though, a niggling part of him is trying to make it clear that he is slowly betraying his own wife. He pays no attention to it, naturally, thinking there is no harm in telling another queen that she is beautiful.

Yet.

Elsa walks in, holding the door open for the people behind her. Princess Anna and her fiancé, Kristoff enter and Kristoff closes the door behind him.

Riven hears him whisper to Anna, "tell me, why are we here again?" only to have Anna gently hit him on the arm and give him a frown. It causes Riven to smile; he can understand Kristoff's confusion. After all, he'd gone through the same thing with Musa just a few months ago.

"King Riven," Elsa starts. Riven takes his attention back to her. "We were wondering-"

"No, Elsa. _You_ were wondering," Anna interrupts her with a mischievous smirk. The queen's rosy cheeks reappear once again as she shoves Anna with a light, embarrassed laugh. The princess falls against Kristoff and it's her turn to blush.

"Fine. _I _was wondering how you were doing, King Riven. We haven't seen much of you these past few weeks and we-"

"_You_, Elsa," Anna interjects yet again. Queen Elsa frowns her way. She chooses to ignore her younger sister this second time round.

"We were wondering if you were alright, King Riven. Is there a problem we can assist you with?"

Riven is taken aback. He never expected the queen to care about him like that.

"Oh, no, no. I'm OK. Really. I just like being alone, that's all," is his reply.

"Hey, Elsa, does that remind you of anyone?" Anna asks her sister.

"Anna," the queen hisses. "Be quiet and stop showing me up, OK?" She gives her sister the death stare.

Suddenly he is aware of the room temperature going down by at least a dozen degrees. Everyone else seems to have noticed too. Everyone, apart from Elsa, that is. She is still glowering at her sister. Riven does not know what to do.

"Elsa, calm down. I was only joking," Anna says, reaching forwards and putting her hand on the queen's shoulder. Queen Elsa breathes out and instantly the room temperature goes up once again. "Kristoff, do me a favour and take her to her room, will you?" The princess leads her sister out of the door and Kristoff follows. He never understands why Anna makes him escort her sister to her room. She seems perfectly capable.

"I'm sorry, King Riven," Anna apologizes. "It's just that she is kind of scared of being alone with people and I kind of took the jokes a bit too far. Again. She's not usually like this."

Riven shakes his head, holding his hands out. "No, no. Apology is not necessary, Princess Anna. I fully understand." He doesn't, obviously, but it is the right thing to say, under the circumstances.

Anna leaves with a small nod and Riven is alone with only his thoughts and general confusion for company.


	7. Together

**A/N: A couple of time skips from this chapter onwards.**

Musa sits in her study with her head in a book. She finally has some free time – something she hasn't had in simply ages. She has no jobs that need seeing to, Cadence is taking a nap and she has requested some specific alone time.

She forgets her thoughts as she brings her focus back to the book in her hand. She reads silently for about fifteen more minutes and nothing can be heard except the ticking of the clock and the flip of the pages.

Suddenly, a ringing can be heard. Musa jumps. She sets her book on her desk as she realizes it is her phone ringing. She breathes out as she picks it up and scans her eyes over the screen. The Caller ID beams up as 'Layla'. Musa smiles as she answers the call.

"Hi Layla!" she squeals. "I've not heard from you in ages!"

Layla laughs. "Hey, I came to your kingdom just three weeks ago. Remember?"

"Three weeks is a _long_ time, sweetie. It feels like forever!"

"Yeah, I know." Layla pauses, sounding dismal for a moment. She perks up a second later. "Hey, Muse, you'll never guess what!"

It is Musa's turn to laugh fondly at her friend. "I'm all ears, Lay."

"We have another one on the way!" Layla squeals excitedly. Musa raises an eyebrow.

"How far along are you?"

"Four months. I'm due in September. September 27th."

"Hey, great. Well congratulations! But, Layla, _another_ heir? Aren't Melissa and Riley enough for you and Roy?" Musa teases the Queen of Tides lightly.

"Riley's always out with his friends, 'doing stuff'. We hardly ever see him these days. And there's that Kyla that's just walked into his life. She's sweet and all, but she's just a commoner," Layla explains rather darkly. This causes Musa to frown.

"So? What's wrong with Riley being friends with a commoner? Layla, do I have to remind you that Flora and Tecna are also commoners? That didn't stop you being friends with them," Musa points out.

"Yeah, no, I know. But I kind of wanted our Riley to marry some rich princess girl." Musa smiles again, shaking her head at her friend's blindness.

"Layla," Musa sighs. "Riley is only fourteen. Am I correct?"

"Yes…"

"Well then. He won't be marrying anyone for quite a few years yet. So you have plenty of time before the young man needs to go anywhere _near _the subject of marriage. And he's just a teenager. Teenage relationships never last long anyway. Just took at Flora and Helia if you want proof."

Flora and Helia had parted after Flora realized she was attracted to both boys _and _girls. Helia somehow hadn't accepted her when she came out to him, and had left her. Flora is now living with her girlfriend of three years in an apartment on Linphea.

"Yeah, I guess." Layla sounded reluctant.

"Anyway, how's young Melissa? What's happening in _her_ seven year old life?"

"She's OK. Roy and I are trying to teach her about her powers."

"Trying? What, she doesn't believe she's a fairy?" Musa teases, smiling.

"She nearly flooded the whole fricking palace, Musa!" Layla complains.

"Ah. I see," Musa agrees. "Now, that _is_ what I would call a tough job."

"Told you so. Anyway, enough about my young ones. How's Cadence? Melissa's always complaining how she doesn't get to go to Melody and see her."

"Aww. That's so sweet! You guys really need to come to Melody some time. Yeah, Cadence is fine. She's missing Riven, though. Like, a lot," Musa explains.

"Well. He _is_ her father, so…" Layla trails off. "How about you? Are you not missing the guy?"

"Of course I am, Layla! He's been gone for a month already and there's no news on when he's going to come back! Heck, I never even realized that our two kingdoms had so many issues!"

"Good things come to those who wait, sweetie," Layla says. She suddenly says, "Hey, we should have a get together some time! All of us high school buddies can meet up on one of our kingdoms!"

"Yeah! Great idea, Layla! How about on Melody?" Musa agrees enthusiastically.

"Oh, Musa, always making sure you have the easiest job," Layla teases, shaking her head. "No, I'm joking. Melody is fine. The specialists can come too, right?" Layla asks, only realizing what she said a tad too late. "Oh… right. Sorry, Muse."

"Hey, it's alright. They can go. Is Sarah allowed to come? I mean, with Flora," Musa asks about her friend's partner.

"Sure. If Flora comes, then I don't see why Sarah can't. She made our Flora happy, after all."

"Yeah. Hey, have you got her new number? She changed it so Helia can't get a hold of her."

"New number? No, I haven't," Layla replies, sounding confused.

"She must have forgotten then. You know, with all the commotion with Helia and all. I'll phone her and tell her about our get together, then, if you tell Bloom, Stella and Tecna?" Musa confirms.

"Perfect. Catch you later, sweetie."

"Wait! When shall we make it? We've not settled on a date."

"Um…" Layla pauses, clearly befuddled by Musa's sudden approach. "Some time in a couple of weeks? Like a fortnight on Saturday?"

"Excellent. Alright, that's what Flora needs to know."

"Yup. Bye, Musa."

"Bye!" Musa hangs off.

She squeals at the idea of meeting up with all her old friends again. She dials Flora's number and hold her phone up to her ear, waiting patiently.

Suddenly, a voice answers, "hello?" It is definitely not Flora's voice, and only one other person besides the Nature Fairy would answer the phone in that household.

"Hi, is this Sarah?" Musa asks.

"Yeah, I'm Sarah. Who's speaking?" the voice asks.

"I'm Musa. Flora's friend."

"Oh. Right. Hello. Would you like to speak to Flora?"

"Yes, please. That would be great." It sounds as if Sarah is covering up the mouthpiece of the phone and then suddenly, Flora's voice can be heard.

"Musa? Hi, sweetie! I haven't heard from you in ages!"

"Hey, Flo! How are you?"

"I'm OK. You?"

"I'm great, thanks! I actually phoned to tell you something," Musa says.

"What?

"Layla called just a few minutes ago and said that we should all meet up on Melody."

"When?" Flora asks.

Musa suddenly becomes aware of the door opening and someone walking in. She gets distracted when Cadence walks up to her, dragging her tatty pink bunny across the floor and asks, "Mummy? Who are you talking to?"

"What?" Musa says, hearing Flora ask if she's still there. "Hold on a sec, Flo. What was that, sweetie?" she asks Cadence, holding her hand over the mouthpiece of her phone."

"Who are you talking to? Britney's mummy?"

The name of Bloom's three year old makes Musa laugh. Cadence and Britney seem to have to have made a very special bond over the years that they have known each other. Cadence never fails to keep the younger one happy, and she never stops asking about her when she and Bloom are on the phone.

"No, honey. Not Britney's mummy. I'm talking to one of my friends," she replies.

"Hey, can _I_ talk to your friend, Mummy? Please?" Cadence pleads, rather sweetly.

"No, sweetheart. Not right now. Maybe later, yes?"

"What can I do _now_, Mummy?" Cadence asks yet again.

"Go and play a game up in your room. If you give me a little bit more time, I might have a surprise for you. OK?"

"OK!" Cadence runs off, and opens the door. She forgets to close it, and Musa shakes her head, smiling.

Remembering Flora was still on the line, she puts the phone to her ear and stands up. "Flora?" she asks as she goes and closes the door. She leans against it, not bothering to go and sit back down.

"Yes, Musa?" Flora answers.

"Sorry about that. I just got distracted by what Cadence was asking me."

"Hey, it's OK. Kids will be kids, right?"

"I guess. Anyhow, as I was saying, Layla and I decided on two weeks on Saturday? Will that do for you two?"

"I guess so, if Sarah can get a day off of- what?"

Musa faintly hears Sarah saying that she has a day off that day and can make it to whatever Flora and 'her friend' were planning.

"Yeah, apparently Sarah _has_ got a day off that day for whatever reason. We can go. Are all the others going?"

"Well, I still have to get the reply from Layla about Bloom, Stell and Tec, but I bet they'll go."

"Alright, text me to let me know if they're going, alright?"

"OK. Oh, and you still need to give Layla your new number, remember?"

"Oh! Gosh, have I really forgotten? How silly of me! I'll text her now."

"Alright. Good idea. And we've got a new heir of Tides on the way."

"Have we? Oh, when's Layla due?" Flora asks excitedly.

"End of September."

"Yay! I bet Melissa and Riley are really excited about having a new brother or sister," Flora says.

"I bet they are. OK, I need to go. See you in two weeks, then," Musa replies.

"Goodbye, sweetie."

"Bye!"

Musa hangs off yet again and checks her texts. There's a text each from Bloom and Layla.

Layla's reads: _Tec and Stella are alright for Saturday. I'll get Bloom to text you or call because I need to go do something. I've texted her to let her know, though._

Bloom's reads: _Hi, Muse. Sky, Britney, Thomas and I are all free on Saturday. We'll be on Melody fairly early._

Musa replies back to Bloom, agreeing that 'fairly early' is alright if it's not _too _early. Bloom texts back, saying by 'fairly early' they mean about ten, eleven o'clock.

Musa smiles and puts her phone back on the desk. She walks out of the room, closing the door behind her. She leaves a little too early, it turns out. Had she stayed in the room a little longer, she'd have heard the call from a certain king…


	8. Frustrated

**A/N: This chapter has been written to celebrate my fanfiction account's very first birthday. **

Riven sighs. He lays his phone back down on his bedside table. He puts his head in his hands with a very heavy hearted sigh.

Musa hasn't been answering his calls or texts for a week and a half now. He is getting worried.

What if something has happened to her?

What if something happened to Cadence?

What if she… doesn't love him anymore…

_No, _Riven tells himself firmly. _You've left her with a ton load of work on her hands. She's just extremely busy. She _hasn't _swarmed off with another guy the minute you turned your back._

Riven sits up again, deciding to try one last time before going to find either Xander or Kristoff. He dials Musa's number and waits. He bites his lip as he hears the ringing sound. _Come on, Muse. Answer this one_, he wills in his head.

'Hi there, you've reached Musa's voicemail service. Please leave a message after the beep and I will try to get back to you as soon as I can,' instructs the automated voice.

Normally, hearing his sweet, darling Musa's voice would calm Riven down instantly. But not today. The automated voice does nothing to soothe his rapid heartbeat, instead helping him to get even more worked up.

He throws his phone on his bed out of anger and frustration. He stands up and takes a second to calm himself down and then he walks out of the room, closing the door behind him. He walks down the corridor. His first thought is to go and find the friendly guard.

Riven walks past the queen's room. It sounds as if she is having a conversation with her sister. After listening for another second or two, he realized that they were on their way to an argument.

"Elsa, he has his own family. He has a wife and a daughter. He's the ruler of another kingdom. You can't do this to him!" Anna hisses.

"Yes, I know, I know. But he's absolutely _gorgeous_. He's like the man of my dreams!" Elsa gushes.

_Who _are_ they talking about_? Riven wonders. _It can't be… no. It's not._

"And? Face it, Elsa. He's not yours. And he won't ever be. Think what the Queen of Melody will say to you when she finds out that you've seduced her husband!" Anna retaliates. Her voice rises steadily.

"But he called me _alluring_!"

"So did Xander! Elsa. King Riven is with Queen Musa. Knock some sense into that head out of yours!"

Riven pales. _They _are _talking about me, _he thinks bitterly. Not staying to hear any more of their conversation turning argument, he walks on with his hands behind his back.

He walks to the front of the castle, where he sees the brown haired chief guard decked out in full uniform. "Good morning, Xander!" he says cheerily, trying extremely hard to forget what he has just heard.

"Why, good morning, King Riven. What brings a king like yourself out here on a dark, and dreary morning like today? Surely, you have many other things you could be doing rather than suffering out here in the cold?" Xander says.

Riven look up at the sky. Sure enough, the sky is grey and murky. It darkens his mood considerably. "Xander, I was an orphan, only having a 'king' status by marriage. You don't need to speak formally to me," he mutters sadly.

"Arendellian rules, your majesty. They state that we must all be polite and just to each other," Xander says, putting his hands behind his back. "And you misspoke too."

Riven raises an eyebrow. "Did I? I don't think I did…" he says, confused.

"Yes, King Riven. You see, if you are a king, then you are a king. It doesn't matter if you're a king by blood, a king by marriage or a mixture of the sort. You hold a king status, and you should feel extremely proud of yourself for getting yourself up to this status," Xander says.

Riven shrugs, sighing heavily. "I guess so. But… I… no. I shouldn't be telling you this. I should be able to sort out my own problems." Riven sighs again, and starts to turn back to the castle. "Excuse me." He starts to walk away, turning his eyes to the ground.

"Wait, King Riven!" Xander calls, trying to catch Riven's attention. Riven turns back around, waiting patiently.

"I know I probably don't have the right to say this to you, seeing as you are not an Arendellian, but I'm going to say it anyway. You don't need to face your problems on your own. There are many people who are willing to lend a hand to you if you'd let them," Xander explains.

"Who would be willing to help me? Most of my problems are problems that I can only bear. I have to get through them alone."

"I would. So would the Queen and the Princess. And the mountain man, of course."

"I thank you for your support, kind Xander, but I need to be by myself." Riven turns back around again and starts walking.

Xander doesn't call him back again. The man obviously needs some time to think and he doesn't want to intrude in the king's business.

* * *

Riven walks into the castle. He ascends the two stair cases and finds himself approaching a pair of wooden doors. He pushes them open and finds himself face to face with a balcony. He walks right up to the edge and leans his forearms against the railings.

He thinks for a minute about what Queen Elsa and her sister were saying about him. Was the queen serious about seducing him? _Really_ serious?

As he pictures the blonde queen in his mind, he can't help but let a smile creep out. Long, platinum blonde hair, sky blue eyes and just a perfect personality: kind, caring, loving. Her ice is a blessing as far as he is concerned. Not a thing is wrong with her. She is perfect.

But he's not hers. He belongs to Musa. And _only _Musa. He won't let himself be seduced by that queen.

_But she's beautiful. Alluring,_ his mind yells at him, mockingly. _Wouldn't you just _love _to have her in your bed? Soft, silky skin, refreshingly cooling, amazingly perf-_

"Shut _up_!" he shouts loudly.

"King Riven? A-are you OK?" a voice asks meekly.

Riven turns round, his face becoming beetroot red. He comes face to face with none other than Queen Elsa herself.

"Y-yes, thank you, Queen Elsa. I-I'm perfectly fine," he stammers.

"Are you sure?" she asks again, bolder this time. "Maybe I can help?"

"No, no. I'm OK. Truly. Sorry to have disturbed you."

"You didn't disturb me. I came of my own accord. Please, let me help you." She has come incredibly close to him, leaving only a few feet between them.

"Queen Elsa, I assure you. I am fine," Riven says.

"No, you're not. You told yourself to shut up. You don't do that if you're 'perfectly fine'. What is wrong?"

"I… nothing." He can't tell her that he was battling with his own mind about her. "I'm fine."

Her hand trails up to his shoulder. "No," she says softly. "You're not. Please, Riven, let me help you."

Riven has to give in to her innocent (or maybe not so) pleading and he finds himself telling her what he is thinking about. He sees her smile broaden as he tells her what he had in mind. In the end, he leads her up to his bedroom.

The moment between them begins to get terribly intimate, and Riven doesn't think that he might end up regretting his actions in the near future.

**A/N: That's where I'm stopping for now, in order to keep the rating down to a T. But please, please, please, review and tell me what you think. Please.**


	9. Relaxed

**A/N: After this chapter there are two chapters and an epilogue left.**

In the castle of Melody, everyone in the castle is minding their own business. Musa and Cadence are playing a board game in the princess' room, Helena and Ariadne have been given the day off and have returned to their home cities so the queen and the princess will not be disturbed and all the other maids and cooks are busying themselves with other jobs.

Calm, soothing music plays in the background. Cadence sits across from Musa as they take turns moving their pieces across the board. They are silent, apart from the cheers Cadence makes when she realizes she is winning the game. Every now and then, she will look up at her mother and smile questioningly. Musa smiles back at her. Suddenly, Cadence yawns and crawls onto her mother's lap.

Musa smiles fondly and cradles her. She uses her magic to turn the music up just a touch so that Cadence will fall asleep faster. When the younger girl has fallen into a deep slumber, Musa slowly gets up off the floor and lays her down on the bed. She goes over to the bedside drawer and takes out Cadence's pink blanket. Draping it over the princess' sleeping body, she places a kiss to her daughter's temple and tiptoes out, softly closing the door behind her.

Musa finds herself with nothing to do. She has finished all of today's workload and has stacked it away neatly. Her library is being sorted through and cleaned by another two of her maids. She walks down the hallway and down the stairs to her basement, where she and Riven had stashed every musical instrument that could fit in it: ranging from the smallest – triangles and castanets – to the biggest – an organ, a grand piano, a double bass and even a harp.

Musa opens the door and picks up her acoustic guitar. Taking a pick from the box, she strums once on the strings. She strums once more and takes her seat on the stool. She starts playing a tune, and quite a slow and sad one at that. She closes her eyes, getting herself absorbed in the tune's slow melody.

Musa lets the world live behind her, not letting anything get in her way. She realizes that the song, deep down, is centred on her love for Riven, and how much she is missing him. She finds that not seeing her love for almost a month is taking a toll on her. A tear slips down her cheek and she stops playing for a second to wipe it way.

It doesn't stop them falling though. They fall freely, and eventually Musa has to stop playing and put her guitar down to wipe them away. She doesn't feel like playing anything now so she walks out of the basement and up to the ground floor hallway.

She goes back into her room and picks up her phone. She hadn't touched it for nearly two weeks – she had been too busy to do so, what the workload mounting up on her and having to look after Cadence at the same time. Normally, when Riven is here, they would take turns working and looking after her. But now, she has had to manage everything on her own.

Turning her phone on, she gasps. There are so many texts and calls that she has missed from Riven. How had she not heard them? She redials one of them and waits, hoping, praying that Riven would answer.

Finally, she hears, "hello? Musa?" She smiles, her heart leaping.

"Hi, Riven! I'm so sorry for not picking up your calls. I was kind of busy trying to get everything organized on my own," she apologizes.

"It's fine, Musa," he says. He sounds quite gruff.

"Are you OK? You sound like something's wrong," she asks.

"Oh, no, no, I'm fine. How are you?" he asks, sounding much cheerier.

"I've been missing you."

"Me too, sweetheart. I-I can't wait to get back to Melody," Riven stutters.

"What's wrong, Riven?" Musa asks, ignoring his claim that 'he's fine'.

"Musa, I told you. I'm fine," he says firmly.

"Oh." Musa is taken aback by his firmness towards her. "OK."

"H-How's Cadence?" Riven asks suddenly.

"She's fine. She's asleep just now. But, yeah, she's OK," Musa says, trying very hard not to worry about him.

"That's good. And how are things around the castle?"

Musa has taken a seat in her desk chair and crossed one leg over the other. Her heart is beating fast at the thought of having not spoken to him in more than a month. She kids herself that she is back at Alfea, waiting on a phone call from her on and off boyfriend.

"Well," She starts. "Ariadne and Helena are back home for the day, and Jodie and Maeve are cleaning and sorting out the library and Amy and Trevor have something going on between them. You know?"

"Wait, what? When did _that _happen?" Riven asks, shocked.

Suddenly it _really_ feels like they are teenagers in college again. Two people are in a new relationship and everyone is crowding around and focusing on them, wanting every single scrap of detail.

"I only found out a couple of days ago. They wouldn't tell me how long this has been happening for," Musa answers.

"Ah. OK. Makes sense. And…" There is a long pause, where it sounds as if Riven is speaking to someone else, by covering up the mouthpiece of the phone. Musa frowns.

"Riven?" she asks, confused.

"Oh, sorry, Muse. Someone needed some 'specific attention'," he replies.

"Who?"

"Just… El- _Queen_ Elsa. And I think you'll be pleased to know, I'm coming back in a week or so."

"Seriously?"

"Yes, Musa. I'm finally coming back home." He sighs contentedly.

"Hey, great! Do you know what day?" Musa asks excitedly.

Riven _could _actually be back in time for the Winx Club's (even though they hardly see each other nowadays, they'll still always be the Winx Club; always and forever.) get together on Saturday. It will be great if he can make it! Suddenly, Musa gets an idea (even if it is quite a selfish one): they should make Saturday a party, to welcome back Riven. And even if he doesn't come back in time for the party, they can always still have fun, right?

Musa doesn't realize how wrong her thought really is.

"No, I'm… not so sure about that one. Sorry, Muse."

"Hey, it's OK, the main this is that you're coming back!" Musa squeals.

"Yeah, I guess. OK, I'm going to hit my bed now. You know, with the time difference and all, I should be in bed," Riven says, after a stifled yawn.

"Oh my gosh, were you about to go to bed? Oh, I'm sorry, Riven!" Musa says.

"Oh, no, no, no, it's fine. I can sacrifice my sleep for my queen. It's not a big deal." Riven says the words with a hint of admiration in his voice.

"But you really should get to bed, Riven. I'm so sorry I kept you up."

"I'm telling you, Musa. It's fine. But, I really should be getting to bed now. You know I don't like being the only one up at night. Goodnight, Musa," he begins to say his farewells.

"Goodnight, love."

They hang the phone up. For some strange reason, Musa thinks she heard Riven whisper 'I'm so sorry, Musa." Deciding it is her imagination, she shrugs.

She texts her friends again, just to let them know that Saturday will be a party, and that they should wear their best clothes.

She goes back to the library to check on Maeve and Jodie.

Musa doesn't suspect a thing.


	10. Guilt

Riven paces his room. What _had_ he done a couple of nights ago? He took himself too far. Way, way, _way_ too far.

He had taken Elsa's virginity.

He couldn't have helped it. She was amazingly wonderful. She pleasured him so much the other night. Even when he thinks about it, two days later, he gets an amazing tingling feeling in the pit of his stomach.

But now he feels terribly, horribly guilty. He has a brilliant wife, who had given him the best gift a man could wish for. She'd given him a child, and said child is truly adorable. So why had he done what he did?

_Because I was in need of a pleasuring woman. Musa _is _amazing, but she's very old fashioned_, Riven's mind screams at him as he punches his left fist into his right palm. _Too old fashioned for my liking_. _But I love her? Right? _

Whereas Elsa has a more modern vibe to her; she is absolutely beautiful; and is so much more like him: cocky, sassy, rather flirtatious and cold. Cold in personality, and cold so very literally.

Riven grumbles; he can't face the queen yet. He has avoided her for the whole of yesterday, and all of today, so far. He doesn't know when to go and confront her and he's not so sure he wants to. He can't say he loves her, for they are not in a proper relationship. He _doesn't_ love her. He never has. 'Friends with benefits' makes him feel even _more_ guilt ridden. Why didn't he control himself? Why had he gone and let her seduce him?

So he's stayed in his room for two whole days. He hasn't left for fear he'll bump into Elsa, Princess Anna, Kristoff or even Xander. He can't let the friendly guard know about his actions. That'll be their friendship over. And Anna; she'll probably scream her head off at him if she sees him.

And there's his own family. How will he explain to Musa what he'd done? She will kill him, he is sure of it. And Cadence. He's been such a terrible father to her. By cheating on her mother, he has given her an irresponsible parent. How could he have done that?

He had been so happy yesterday, even if he hadn't had the courage to go and talk to Elsa about their actions. However, when he had received the call from his loving wife, Musa, that all changed. The guilt started to creep in and his mind started to give him the wrong advice.

Riven sits back down on the bed with a heavy hearted sigh and puts his head in his hands. Nothing he does can take his mind off of his situation. Not reading, not sleeping, not eating, not listening to his favourite songs, and definitely _not _listening to his darling Musa sing his favourite song.

He doesn't know what to do. He feels like crying, but he doesn't want to shame himself even more. He knew everything he did would come back to haunt him someday. And that day has come. What can he do to eradicate and rid himself of the guilt?

Talk to Elsa, that's what. _But what do I tell her? Ask her why we did what we did? I don't think so._

He squeezes his fists, tighter and tighter. Along with the guilt, the anger has settled in now, freely bubbling and boiling. He regrets the words that slipped out of his mouth in the heat of the moment: _you're the best thing that ever happened to me_. He regrets it so much so that he starts to dig his nails into the palm of his hand and swear under his breath.

He remembers what he told Musa to do when she was in need of an escape route. Count to ten, and if that doesn't work, keep on counting.

_One… two… three… _

It's not working.

_Four… five… six…_

Still not working.

Carrying on counting, Riven walks to the window and leans his forearms on the window sill. A tear slips down his cheek, and he wipes it away furiously.

_Eleven… twelve… thirteen… fourteen…_

With every number that crosses his mind, a fuming, guilty tear falls out of his eyes. Soon, he gives up trying to keep his image intact. He'd already lost his reputation, hasn't he? He lets the tears fall freely. He has lost his lover, through his horrible actions. If he hasn't, then he is a very, very lucky man, but incredibly undeserving.

Suddenly, a knock comes at the door. He silences himself, but still doesn't stop the tears. He waits to see if whoever is at the door will go away if he doesn't respond.

Nope. They knock again. He has an urge to yell at them to go away. But biting his tongue, he strains himself to keep silent. "Riven?" they ask softly.

His heart drops. It is Elsa. He can't face her yet, not now. But she is persistent: she calls his name over and over, and he has no choice but to go and answer her. He wipes his tears away and wipes his face, trying to get rid of the evidence.

He opens the door and lets her in. She enters with a frown, and has her arms folded across her chest. "Are you OK?"

She sinks onto his bed with a sigh. "No," she says flatly.

No time for grieving now. Riven sits on the bed beside her and runs a hand through his hair. "What is it?"

"Riven, we're in deep trouble," she says, sighing once again.

"Why? Who've you told?" he asks her accusingly, immediately jumping to conclusions. He stands back up and walks up to his door.

Elsa's head jerks up and her eyes flash menacingly. "Who said it was me who spilled the beans, huh?! How can you prove to me that your precious little queen doesn't know about what happened that other night?!" she yells, standing up, suddenly.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down. You're the one who said we were in trouble. I didn't speak a word about it," he shoots back at her indignantly.

"Still, it's not the way to speak to a queen, King Riven." Elsa holds her head up high as she walks up to him slowly.

"Same goes for you, then," Riven says. "You can't speak like that to me. I'm what you would call a king."

"You're doing it again, Riven!" Elsa hisses.

"Look, can we just get on with this?" Riven asks impatiently.

"You accused me of telling! All I could do was defend myself!" the queen frowns at him.

"OK, OK, I'm sorry. Really, I am. Can you just tell me what happened? Please?" Riven apologizes. He takes her hand and sits her back down on his bed.

"Well…" Riven looks at her expectantly. "We're… we're about to… become parents…" Elsa whispers, not quite meeting Riven's eyes. Riven's eyes widen as he mentally face palms himself.

"Oh, Elsa…" he sighs as he sits beside her and takes both of her hands. "You're not...?"

Elsa nods, slowly. "I'm sorry, Riven. I… I wasn't thinking…"

"Elsa… why? What… I thought we used…" he trails off, breaking the contact between them for a moment.

"Me too. But, it must have broken… or… something along those lines?" Elsa looks up at him, looking helpless.

"OK. Are… are you sure?" Riven asks her needlessly.

"Riven, I'm positive."

"But, it's only been two days…" he muses to himself.

"Hello?! We are in the _Magic Dimension_! Pregnancy is different here than what it is on Earth! Here you start having the symptoms within a week!" she informs him. Her voice gets louder with every word.

"Fine, fine. So… what… what do we do?"

"_I. Don't. Know_." Elsa's hands fly up to her hair and she pulls, tearing a few strands of hair out.

"Hey, hey, don't do that! Stop!" Riven goes to hold her wrists and pry her hands open.

Elsa starts crying as her hands float up to her head once more. Riven takes her back into his embrace, letting her cry. He whispers to her as she cries; soothing her and offering suggestions.

"Why don't you have an abortion?" he says suddenly.

"Riven, really?" she says witheringly, looking on at him disbelievingly. "Just because the little boy is illegitimate, I'm not going to _abort _my child." She then adds in a whisper, "our child."

"OK, fine. I guess that's too cruel. Wait, a boy?" Riven asks, curiously.

"Yes, we're having a little boy." Elsa smiles at this point and pats her stomach.

"That's great and all, but what are you going to do?"

"Me?!" Elsa says, pointing to herself. "What are _we_ going to do, more like!" she scoffs.

"I'm sorry, but I have my own _legitimate_ child waiting for me back at home. I'm leaving in a couple of days, anyway," Riven informs her flatly.

"No, you are _not_, Riven. My little boy needs a father."

Riven stands up abruptly, and narrows his eyes at the blonde woman. "Well, so does my Cadence!" he cries.

"She's had a father _for four years_. She can go without one for a couple of years now," Elsa says, somewhat rudely.

"_Excuse me_? Are you saying you're going to keep me from fathering my own child?" Riven asks, turning his head slightly to the left and raising his eyebrows at her as he crosses his arms.

Elsa pauses. "Yeah, I guess," she nods.

Riven growls, and turns on his heel to face the door. He strides forwards towards the door, pausing only to pick up his suitcase. He opens the door, turns back to tell her that he hates her, only to find that no words come out.

All he feels is Elsa's lips on his. His first instinct is to push her away but he realizes that it feels too good to do so. He finds himself kissing her back with an equal amount of passion. He doesn't break the contact between them as he bends down and sets his suitcase on the floor beside him. His hands move to the sides of her waist as her hands wind around his neck. All the previous hate melts away as all he can feel is burning infatuation.

As they break away, Riven leans his forehead against Elsa's. "If you can give me another one of those," he whispers enticingly. "Then I think you've just won me over," he says as lust starts to take control of his mind.

They lean in for another heated kiss, and Riven forgets all about his family, the ones he is supposed to love. All he can think about is the woman standing in his arms.

* * *

After he finally prises himself away from Elsa (which is an incredibly long time), Riven walks down the corridor for the first time in two whole days. He finds that he feels fresher; that he knows he made the right decision staying in Arendelle.

Xander apparently hasn't been told, or if he has he doesn't care. Kristoff has been avoiding him. When they do meet in the hallways, the 'reindeer man' gives him a fierce glare. He starts to doubt his decision a little and does his best to avoid Anna.

On the way to the dining table, he passes the princess' room, where he can hear her yelling at her older sister.

"See?! I told you it was a flipping stupid idea!" she shouts.

"Look, he said he's staying in Arendelle. We'll look after our child _together_," Elsa replies, straining herself to keep calm.

Riven brings his hand up to knock, but then pauses. He flattens his hand out against the door. He listens to their argument, the guilty butterfly feeling returning to the pit of his stomach.

"That's not the point, Elsa! The point is that you just ripped him away from his own family! You can't be so pleased about that!" Anna yells again.

"Well no, but-" Elsa sounds very reluctant.

"There you go. Stupid idea." Riven can just see Elsa frowning down at her sister, almost in tears. He can't stand it.

He growls and slopes off back to his room. He can't back down on his decision now and if Elsa can love him like she had an hour before, then surely, it is worth staying. Right?

**A/N: One chapter and an epilogue, then we're done! Review to let me know what you think!**


	11. Over

**A/N: The last actual chapter of Arrogant Ice is here! **

Musa finds she is smiling all over. She is helping to put the decorations up in the castle ready for the arrival of her friends and their children. She wraps the music note fairy lights around the trees in her back garden. She plans to have them all out on the field relaxing, talking, laughing, and having fun. As she ties up the strings to the trees, she hopes Layla and Bloom can keep their oldest children under control.

The last time Riley and Thomas were in close proximity to each other, Riven ended up prising them apart with a few not too fierce (but fierce enough) words after they broke out into a physical fight. They wouldn't listen to their respective fathers, so Riven and Brandon ended up taking Riley and Thomas, correspondingly, out for a drive and a chat to calm them down. When they got back, they were still eyeing each other downright dangerously, but the two former specialists managed to keep them from killing each other.

But Riven won't be here today. Hopefully, they won't require his presence. Riley and Thomas will steer clear of each other if they still hate each other's guts, or they will have sorted out their probems and now get along.

Musa strings the last of the lights outside and walks back in. The grounds of the castle are extremely busy, with maids and cooks hustling around trying to get everything sorted in time. Musa had felt a bit mean when she told them all to get _everything _sorted. So she has decided to help.

One of the maids, Lisa, tells her to go and relax. She smiles and says that there will be plenty of time for relaxing when her friends arrive. Lisa keeps on persisting, but Musa manages to persuade her to let her help them. She goes to help Rochelle set up the garden tables for the serving of the food.

Rochelle seems to have everything under control. Musa asks if she should help, but Rochelle tells her that she is fine. She sighs and shakes her head. She walks in and sees Cadence sitting in the lounge, playing at tea parties with her dolls. Cadence must have heard her mother walk in, because she looks up and instantly her face lights up with a beaming grin.

"Mummy!" she cries, immediately standing up and running over to the older fairy.

"Hi, honey," Musa laughs, picking Cadence up. "Are you OK?"

"When are Britney and Melissa coming?" Cadence asks.

"Soon, sweetheart, soon. Be patient," Musa says. Cadence struggles to be put down.

"I want to go and play!" she says as she tries to loosen Musa's hold on her.

"OK, OK, you can go and play now."

Musa puts her daughter down and Cadence runs back to her tea party.

The Fairy of Music sighs fondly as she watches her daughter play silently – apart from a soft hum that escapes her lips – and a smile creeps out over her face. She leans on the doorway, for a full five minutes just watching her daughter play with the toys in front of her.

Cadence is oblivious to it; her head is down as she hums a gentle tune. Musa decides to leave her there, and silently walks out of the room.

* * *

The doorbell rings an hour later and Musa, having changed into a deep purple knee length dress and purple heels, goes to answer it. She is greeted with Bloom's warm smile. They go in for a hug – they haven't spoken to each other in quite a long time.

Bloom is in a black off the shoulders ankle length dress. The dress clings to her frame as she moves. Her red hair has been curled and trails down her back in waves of ringlets. Normally Musa would have laughed to see a grown woman with ringlets but Bloom looks so breathtakingly beautiful that she manages to pull it off.

Sky and Thomas are both in matching black tuxedos and bow ties. Thomas' dark blond hair is spiked up, bizarrely reminding Musa of Riven. Sky still has his shoulder length blond hair; he hasn't changed at all.

Britney has on a knee length dress of her own; a deep red, wine-coloured one. Her red hair compliments this gorgeously, and Musa finds herself mumbling how lucky Bloom is.

"Hi, Bloom!" Musa greets her friend.

"Hey, Muse! Long time no see!" Bloom says.

"No, Bloom. Long time no _speak_." Musa laughs.

She walks back to let everyone in. She calls for Cadence, who comes running. "Britney!" she calls.

Sky puts the three year old down and she goes running to follow Cadence.

Musa looks to the two males standing behind Musa. "Sky, Thomas, I've not heard from you guys in ages."

Sky shrugs. "We're not at school anymore. It's not like you can meet up every day for an assignment," he teases.

"Yeah, I see your point." Musa finds herself laughing along with him. "But I'm glad to have you all here."

Musa takes them all out to the garden, rounding up Britney and Cadence on the way. They sit at the tables, letting Cadence and Britney go off and run around.

"Hey, Musa, this is beautiful. Well done," Bloom praises. She looks around at the fairy lights hung around the trees, each light bearing a different music note.

"Aww, thanks B," Musa replies. She turns to Thomas. "Thomas, have you and Riley sorted out your problems? I remember last time we all met up, you guys were just about ready to kill each other," she asks.

From the way Thomas' eyes darken, Musa knows she shouldn't have asked. He doesn't reply, so Bloom and Sky fill in for him.

"Those two… had another… misunderstanding, shall we say, the other night, and our Thomas was not going to turn up at-" Bloom starts saying.

"Hi, guys!" Every head turns to the patio doorway. Layla, Roy, Melissa and Riley are standing on the patio, Layla still with her arms outstretched after her greeting. Her sky blue knee length dress is stretched over her bulging stomach, which brings it to about mid thigh.

Musa hears Thomas mutter, "Great. Just fucking great."

She doesn't look back at him; his parents are there to soothe him.

Instead she stands up and walks up to Layla. They fall into a hug. Melissa goes to join Cadence and Britney, Sky walks up to Roy and greets him and after Musa and Layla break away, Bloom goes to give Layla a hug.

Riley is standing back, his expression dark and motionless. He is eyeing Thomas, who hasn't left the table yet. Thomas glares back, and Musa sees Riley falter a little. She realizes then that deep down, Riley wants the feud between them to come to an end.

They go back to sit at the table, both teenage boys sitting well away from the other. Bloom and Layla are talking, deep in conversation, and Musa finds that even if people's mothers are friends doesn't mean that they will be.

Eventually, everyone has arrived: Stella, Brandon and their six year old, Peter; Tecna, Timmy, their two twin five year old sons, Joe and James and their seven year old daughter, Milly, and last but not least Flora and Sarah.

* * *

Everyone is seated at the table after an afternoon's worth of relaxing and chatting and are now about to be served their dinner.

Musa's phone rings and she gets up to answer it after seeing Riven's name.

"Hi, Riven!" she greets happily.

"Hi, Musa. We need to talk," Riven says. Musa's expression falters at Riven's sincerity.

"Why? What's wrong?" she asks hurriedly.

"I… I'm not coming back…" Riven says after a long pause.

"It's alright. I can live another few days without you, difficult as it may be," Musa tries to console him.

She has taken herself back up towards the castle and is sitting on the edge of her patio.

"No. Musa, I'm not coming back, full stop." Riven clears his throat and Musa can sense his discomfort.

"Why… what do you mean?" Musa asks, her heart and mind filling with panic and dread.

What could have happened to him? Is he ill? Are there too many issues?

"I have… other things to attend to on this kingdom," Riven says. His voice starts to crack.

"Other things? Like what?" Musa says. "Riven, will you please stop cutting corners and tell me outright what's going on?"

Riven sighs. A deep, heavy, distraught sigh. Musa can't stand it.

"If you get angry with me, I can't say I will blame you."

"Riven! Stop it!" Musa scolds, growing a little bit impatient.

"Fine, fine. Queen Elsa's going to have a baby," Riven explains.

"So? What's that got to do with- Riven, no. You're not telling me that…" Musa trails off, her anger rising.

"Yes, Musa. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I couldn't help it," Riven says, his voice deflating to a whisper.

"Sorry! You, a married man, and a king at that, impregnate another woman, another _queen_, and all you can say is _sorry_?!" Musa shouts. She is well and truly angry now.

"Well, what else am I supposed to say?!" Riven yells back at her.

"Nothing! Don't talk to me! I hate you, you evil, stupid, cheating bastard!" Musa screams, her voice increasing at least three dozen decibels in volume.

"Fine!" That is the last time Riven ever speaks a word to Musa.

Riven hangs off and Musa yells, "Good riddance!" before throwing her phone aside, falling to her knees and breaking down.

She doesn't try to control her sobs, and eventually, after she cries herself silent, she looks up and finds Bloom looking down at her, concerned.

"Musa, what happened?" Bloom asks her, helping her up and sitting her down on a chair.

"That _idiot_ got the Ice Queen pregnant!" she hisses, wiping her eyes and face.

"Riven… slept with Queen Elsa?" Bloom checks for confirmation.

"Yes!" Musa snaps, making Bloom jump. "Sorry, I… I didn't mean to snap at you," Musa apologizes, her face turning a shade of beetroot red.

"It's OK. But… that's not sounding like something Riven would to do, to me," Bloom says.

"Turns out we were wrong," Musa mutters. "Fucking bastard."

Musa bursts into tears again, and proceeds calling Riven every name she can think of. It is a pretty extensive list, Bloom figures; she has counted twenty-five names.

"Listen, I'm sure he had his reasons. So why don't you try calling him again and finding out what those reasons are," a new voice says. Both Bloom and Musa turn their heads, Musa wiping her tears away for a second time, and come face to face with Flora.

Musa raises her eyebrow, slowly turns her head and points to her broken phone, lying on the tile ground. It is in pieces, and is broken beyond repair. _Just like me_, Musa thinks bitterly.

"I'd rather not speak to that piece of shit," Musa says. "The less I hear from him, the better."

"Mummy? Are you OK, Mummy?" Cadence patters up to Musa, with Melissa behind her, Britney hobbling after them.

Musa's heart shatters again. This is Cadence's future. A future with no father. Well, no biological father at least.

"I'm fine, sweetie. You go and play." Musa dabs at her eyes again.

"No, you're not. Is something the matter with Daddy?" the young girl asks innocently. She climbs onto her mother's lap.

"Daddy's not going to come back, Cadence," Musa whispers. The shine in Cadence's eyes is swept away, just like that.

"Why?" she asks.

"He… he doesn't want to be with Mummy anymore," Musa starts to explain.

"Why?"

"Because…" Musa trails off, stumped for words.

"Your daddy's a very, very bad person, sweetie," Flora explains, kneeling down to get to the princess' eye level. "He slept with someone else, and that's a very naughty thing to do, especially when you've had a child with someone already."

"So, if I wasn't here, would that make it alright?" Cadence asks.

"N-no. Because you're mummy and daddy are married, even you weren't here, it wouldn't make a difference. It would still be a bad thing to do," Flora explains.

"To shorten it, Cadence," Bloom starts explaining. Cadence faces her. "It's not a good thing to sleep with two people, when one of them you are not related to in any way."

"Oh," Cadence says. "So… I don't have a daddy anymore?" she quizzes.

"Not anymore, sweetheart. I'm sorry." This comes from Musa, who wraps her daughter up in a hug.

They stay in that position for a long while, neither of them saying a thing. Musa's friends watch them sadly. The former specialists are extremely angry with their 'friend', and start to form a plan to get Riven back.

Everyone is dazzled by the fact the fact that a good friend of theirs had betrayed his wife, in the worst possible way.


	12. Epilogue

**A/N: I started this six months ago. And six months ago my life was very different. I could write when and however I wished. Things have changed for me, but one thing that hasn't changed is the support I received for this. Thanks to all who have stuck with me through it. Your support is much appreciated. **

I was only four when Dad called Mum and told her what he had done.

I was twelve now, and things still hadn't changed. I was still fatherless, and Mum still got herself in a terrible state when anyone so much as gave a slight hint about what happened. She got these terrible headaches and had to lie down for a couple of hours.

When this happened, I would get the head cook, Eve – Helena had to go on maternity leave, and goodness knows when she'd be back – to make a steaming mug of honey lemon tea, and then I'd take it to her, put a spell on it to keep it warm, give a soft kiss and creep out slowly. Then, when she woke up, she would see the mug on her bedside table, drink it and be ready to live her life again, so long as no one mentioned my father.

That was the thing about the body of a fairy: it recovered almost as soon as it fell ill. No matter what a person did to a fairy, if the fairy got harmed in any way, it would recover at top speed. That was the best thing about my mother too; when – on the rare occasions – she would take to her bed, she was up and running in a day, or two days if she was _really _ill.

I was due to have friends round today. A new girl had joined my class and she and I instantly found a bond had been created between us. Ella was a year older than all the other girls in my class; she had had to take second grade twice. I'd invited her round to the castle along with my best friends: Gabby and Danielle.

I would have invited my other friends: Melissa, Britney and Milly – the friends I hardly ever saw – as well but as I said, I hardly ever saw them, and they lived way too far away for their mothers to bring them over for a day visit.

But I didn't mind too much. Milly's parents had given us top of the range devices to keep in touch – and every Saturday we'd go online and talk for a few hours about what happened in the past week. I never grew bored; they always had such exciting news to tell me. I loved how Milly didn't seem to mind that the other three of us were royalty, and she wasn't.

However, today wasn't Saturday, so I would have to forget about Milly and Britney and Melissa for now. Dani, Gabby and Ella were arriving in about two hours and my bedroom was still a huge mess.

Looking back at what my room used to look like, I would say I made a pretty big improvement. It wasn't all pink and girly any more. I had had it painted black and silver. Black walls with silver stars running across the middle of each wall. I had a black chandelier – even though it was only quite a small one. I had a silver duvet and a black pillow. I painted my bookshelf black and literally begged my mum to buy me a silver wardrobe; she thought it would shine too much and bring the whole 'sophisticated look' down a notch, but even she had to admit that it fit perfectly.

Gabby and Dani loved it – but I wasn't too sure about what Ella's reaction would be. From what I gathered, she was a pink and purple sort of girl. I had been round her house once and her whole room was a deep pink. I hoped she wouldn't go down on me for my 'gothic' mode, as one of the maids – Jodie – had said it was.

Even more so, though, I hoped that Ella wouldn't ask about Dad. Or at least, not in front of Mum. I couldn't have Mum having another migraine today. I hated it so. It was horrid seeing my mother being in so much pain. I hoped that Dani or Gabby filled her in – even though I'd told them that she should hear about my family situation from my own mouth.

Speaking of my own family, I remembered that I was due to meet my half-brother, Morgan, any time this week. He was already seven years old and I still hadn't met him. Dad had got in touch with Ariadne a couple of times and begged to have his 'own little child' see his 'little mite of a son' but Ariadne kept putting it off. She explained that Mum was in no state to hear from the ex-husband (they had gotten divorced a year into their separation) that had betrayed her in such a way, but Dad kept on persisting. Eventually, the exasperated maid had to give in to him – she hated the way he'd phone each month and she hoped that agreeing with him would make him stop.

I had tidied my room and went up the stairs up to the balcony. I wanted to spend a little time doing nothing, just sitting there and thinking about what my life had turned into – but I was surprised to see that Mum had beaten me to it.

She was standing by the edge with her forearms resting on the railing. She was deep in thought, I saw, when I had walked up beside her and she hadn't stirred.

"Mum?" I asked softly. Standing beside her, I saw that I was nearly as tall as she was, and my mum was pretty tall.

She stirred and looked at me when she heard my voice and gave a surprised gasp. "Cadence? Are you OK?" she asked hurriedly. I smiled – she had never stopped worrying about me.

"I'm _fine_, Mum. How are you?" I asked as she turned to look back at the view.

"I'm OK," she sighed. "Where are your friends?"

I chuckled a little. "Not here yet. Give it another one and a half hours and then I'll be shut off in my room with them." I wanted to ask her something, but I was afraid to ask in case it set her off again.

"Alright, honey." She paused, clearly thinking the words over in her head.

And then she answered the same question that had been swimming around in my mind for days.

"Even though your father and I haven't spoken to each other in God knows how long, I don't want our broken relationship put you off from loving your brother," she said. I was surprised that she was willingly talking about Dad. "I might hate Riven's guts now, but that doesn't mean you should follow our example. I want you to welcome your brother into your life, as I'm sure he'll welcome you. OK?"

"Um… OK." I looked away for a second and then looked her in the eye. "Are you… feeling OK?" She laughed at my question, throwing her arms around my body.

"I'm fine, silly." I hugged her back, relieved. Relieved that finally, after eight long years, my mum was openly talking about the man that had hurt her so.

When my friends arrived, I took them up to my room. I waited anxiously for Ella's reaction. I watched nervously as her eyes went everywhere. Finally, she clapped her hands, and I saw the beam on her face. "Cadence, it's beautiful!" she exclaimed.

I gave her a hug, and told her that I was glad she liked it.

Dani had brought a whole bag of make-up with her, and we took turns doing each other up. I realized our group was full of gossip – we were endlessly chatting away about random people I wasn't even sure I knew. I tried not to join in – I knew that back chatting was wrong – but even so, I found myself interested in what they all had to say.

I was sitting on my chair while Gabby did my make up, and I was sure I could hear Ella and Dani whispering. I strained hard, trying to listen while not making it obvious.

"Where's her father?" Ella was asking. "Is… is he out or something?"

"No." I realized that Dani was reluctant to tell her what happened. "I… I'd rather not tell you what happened – not without Cadence's consent." I smiled. That showed the loyalty that my friends had for me.

"Dani, its fine. Ella deserves to know. Tell her," I said. I opened my eyes (as instructed by Gabby) and sat up.

Both Dani and Ella flushed red, for reasons I couldn't really grasp. "I'll tell her then," I said when Dani continued to squirm. I turned to Ella. "My mum and dad are divorced," I explained. "They separated after my dad told my mum that he'd slept with another queen and got her pregnant. Now I have a little half-brother, Morgan, who I'm supposed to be meeting for the first time sometime this week."

"Oh. So you've not met him at all?" Ella asked me. I shook my head, sighing.

"Not a single time. I didn't want to hurt my mum – she felt a bit aggressive towards him since his mother had deprived my mother from a husband," I sighed again.

Ella tried to hide her shocked expression but, it was hopeless. "Well, let's hope you meet him soon, then, shall we?"

As if on cue, I heard Ariadne's voice call up to me. "Princess Cadence! You have a visitor! Please, come down and say hello." I rolled my eyes at my friends and walked to the door, and only paused to turn back to the others and mouth, 'Be right back,' before walking out of my room and down the stairs.

Standing in the foyer were three people, Ariadne, another brown haired woman and a blond haired boy, both of whom I had never seen before.

The boy's hair was a very light blond; it was almost white. It went down to his ears and on closer inspection I saw that he had the most amazing shade of violet in his irises. I knew straight away that the boy was my half-brother and suddenly, I was hit with an intense wave of envy.

This boy had stolen my father. If he weren't here, then Mum wouldn't have needed to know what Dad had done. It could have just stayed hidden in the past, and my family wouldn't be what it is now. I had an urge to just push him out of the door and tell him to never come back.

But I knew Mum wanted me to love him, and if I ignored the fact that his mother wasn't my mother but his father was, then I could see that he _was_ truly adorable. Kitted out in deep red skinny jeans and a beige jumper, he had a lot of fashion sense for a young boy of seven. He was nervous: he hung on to the other woman's hand tightly.

I stood in front of him, and knelt down to come face to face with him. "Hello, little guy," I said softly. "I'm Cadence, your half-sister."

He let go of the woman, and I looked up at her and smiled. "I'm… I'm Morgan," he whispered.

"Do you want to go see my room?" I asked.

He mumbled a yes, so I took his hand and led him up the stairs. I explained to him that my friends were here and that they were very nice people. I opened the door to my room and let him in. His mouth hung open as he looked around, dazed. Ella was about say something, but I shushed her hurriedly.

I heard him mutter a, "Wow," and my smile grew. "You have a sweet room," he breathed. He looked at my friends, one by one, and I thought he'd ask about them.

But he didn't. He sat on my bed, put the nail of his thumb in his mouth and said, "Can I ask you a question?"

I sat next to him, slid my arm round his shoulders and replied, "Sure. Ask whatever you want."

He looked down at the floor. "Why are you my _half_-sister? Why aren't you my proper sister?"

I hesitated – surprised that neither Dad nor Elsa had explained this to him. "Because… we have different mothers. If we had the same dad _and_ the same mum, then you could've been my proper brother. Do you see?" I explained.

"Oh." What he said next both surprised me and moved me at the same time. "I really, really wish you were my _proper _sister."

I hugged him hard. He hesitated for a second but then hugged me back. I whispered that I wished that too.

I realized that in spite of everything, I was really quite fond of my half-brother.

**A/N: Done at last! What did you think? Did I do this epilogue justice? Please leave any thoughts in your reviews. **


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